Jockey drives away with deputy hanging on truck

OCALA — A veteran jockey faces multiple charges after driving away from a traffic stop with a Marion County sheriff’s deputy hanging on to his pickup truck.

The Ocala Star-Banner reports a deputy stopped the Toyota pickup in Ocala on Sunday night after seeing an expired tag. A computer check found the owner’s driver’s license had been suspended seven times this year.

The deputy told 42-year-old Abdiel Toribio the reason for the stop, and Toribio couldn’t find paperwork showing the vehicle belonged to him.

When the deputy attempted to arrest him, Toribio drove off with the deputy partially inside the vehicle, the sheriff’s office said. The deputy pulled himself inside the truck and convinced Toribio to stop.

Toribio faces charges of resisting an officer with violence, driving with a suspended license and driving a vehicle without a tag.

Toribio has not started a race since 2012, but has $26.7 million in purse money in 9,853 starts, according to the Equibase Co., which maintains records for U.S. tracks. He raced primarily at Miami-area tracks.

Toribio was released from the Marion County Jail on Tuesday after posting bail of $31,000, according to the jail website.